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Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Work Hours: Where more is less

Luxembourg is
a heaven for workers, the country where an average worker works only 28 hours
in week. The under-worked employees are not problem for employers as well
because the worker produces much more in an hour than many, in other countries,
would have produced in 3 hours.

The phenomenon
of reducing number of hours worked with enhanced productivity isn’t uncommon in
other countries. France where average work week consists of 28.2 hours produces
65.6$ worth of value per hour per worker.

United
States, the most developed economy, gets 68.3$ from their worker per hour
during its 33.6 hour work-week.

The finding
of a recent study confirmed economist’s preposition, that long work-weeks are counterproductive.
The evidence produced suggests that long hours cause a decrease in creativity.

The curve of
productivity shifts towards bottom as it moves towards right. Research, at Svartedalens
retirement home, shows that shorter work-weeks can increase productivity among
nurses. Side benefits include increased happiness and job satisfaction.
Svartedalens is a growing movement in Europe asking for reduced number of work
hours.

Eight hour
work day is a norm across the world. Ford Motor Company, in the days of ‘sun up to
sun down’ workday, was the first business to implement 8 hour work week. Within
two years Ford’s profits doubled encouraging other businesses to follow suit.

These days
the nature of employment has changed from physically demanding to mentally
demanding. The time boundary of on work and off work has become blurring. Many
employees say they found solution to an important problem, at work, during
vacation. The modern day jobs demand that a worker brings in more mental
energy.

Fresh mind
is more creative and therefore more productive during the present economic
times. Shorter hours can keep your mind fresh and can save your employer in
sick leaves as well.